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Jean Eugène Fraysse (4 May 1870 – 1 May 1950) was a French
footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...
who played as a forward. He founded
Club Français Club Français was a French association football club based in Paris which was founded in 1890. Club Français won the 1896 USFSA Football Championship and the 1931 Coupe de France. In 1900 the USFSA elected players from Club Français to r ...
in 1892, becoming its first
captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...
and leading the club to multiple trophies in the late 20th century, including the 1896 French Championship (USFSA) and two
Coupe Manier The Coupe Manier was a Association football, football competition in France that ran from 1897 until 1911. Only clubs that fielded no more than three foreigners were allowed to participate in the competition, which at the time was mainly British p ...
titles in 1897 and 1898. He competed in the football tournament at the 1900 Olympic Games in
Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
, winning a silver medal as a member of the
USFSA U.S. Figure Skating is the national Sports governing body, governing body for the sport of figure skating in the United States. It is recognized as such by the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC) under the Amateur Sports Act of 1 ...
Olympic team representing France, which was primarily made up of Club Français players.


Early life and education

Jean Eugène Fraysse was born in the
18th arrondissement of Paris The 18th arrondissement of Paris (''XVIIIe arrondissement'') is one of the 20 Arrondissements of Paris, arrondissements, or administrative districts, of Paris, the capital city of France. In spoken French, this arrondissement is referred to as '' ...
on 4 May 1870, as the son of a well-off family from the wealthy districts of Paris, and therefore, he was sent to
Britain Britain most often refers to: * Great Britain, a large island comprising the countries of England, Scotland and Wales * The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, a sovereign state in Europe comprising Great Britain and the north-eas ...
to complete his studies. During his four years there, he developed a deep interest in football, so when he returned to Paris in the summer of 1892, he decided to found a football club.


Club career


Founding Club Français

Upon his return to Paris, Fraysse eventually met fellow countrymen Charles Bernat, who had also become a football fan during his language study trip across the
English Channel The English Channel, also known as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates Southern England from northern France. It links to the southern part of the North Sea by the Strait of Dover at its northeastern end. It is the busi ...
, so they decided to join forces to import the sport into France, and together, they founded Club Français in October 1892. While most of the clubs in France founded in the 19th century were the creation of the British who had left their homeland, the Club Français was the work of two Frenchman, becoming the first club reserved exclusively for the French, hence its name. Shortly after its foundation, Fraysse argued with the captain of
Standard Athletic Club The Standard Athletic Club is a British social club in Paris, created on 1 March 1890, as the fourth football club in France, the oldest one being Le Havre AC. The Standard Athletic Club won the first List of French football champions, French foo ...
, Philip Tomalin, which resulted in a match between their clubs on 1 November 1892. Without a designated field, Club Français was forced to tour the several stadiums of western Paris during its first years of existence, but even though the club was constantly changing fields, CF's position remained solid, even institutionally, because many of its members were sitting on the USFSA Football Commission or ensuring media coverage like Weber or André Saint-Ignan. In 1894, he was appointed vice-president and captain of Club Français. In November 1894, Fraysse became president of the (Football) Association Commission of the
USFSA U.S. Figure Skating is the national Sports governing body, governing body for the sport of figure skating in the United States. It is recognized as such by the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC) under the Amateur Sports Act of 1 ...
. On 17 February 1895, he attended the annual gala dinner of
The White Rovers The White Rovers, also known as White Rovers Paris, was a French amateur football club based in Paris which existed between 1891 and 1899. The club was founded in 1891 by Englishman Jack Wood, who had formerly played football in his home country ...
held by its founding president
William Sleator William Warner Sleator III (February 13, 1945 – August 3, 2011), known as William Sleator, was an American science fiction author who wrote primarily young adult novels but also wrote for younger readers. His books typically deal with adolescent ...
, who welcomed the visiting clubs, and Fraysse responded to the "toast" by replying on behalf of the Club Français.


Pioneering matches

Club Français joined the
USFSA U.S. Figure Skating is the national Sports governing body, governing body for the sport of figure skating in the United States. It is recognized as such by the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC) under the Amateur Sports Act of 1 ...
in March 1894, and on 22 April of the same year, Fraysse started as a forward in the semifinal of the inaugural USFSA championship, which ended in a 0–1 loss to
The White Rovers The White Rovers, also known as White Rovers Paris, was a French amateur football club based in Paris which existed between 1891 and 1899. The club was founded in 1891 by Englishman Jack Wood, who had formerly played football in his home country ...
. On 24 February 1895, Fraysse and his teammate Bernat were the only Frenchman selected to play for the first representative team of Paris in a
friendly match An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, scrimmage, demonstration, training match, pre-season game, warmup match, or preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sport, sporting event whose prize money and impact on th ...
against the
London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
-based
Folkestone Folkestone ( ) is a coastal town on the English Channel, in Kent, south-east England. The town lies on the southern edge of the North Downs at a valley between two cliffs. It was an important harbour, shipping port, and fashionable coastal res ...
at the soggy pitch of the
Seine The Seine ( , ) is a river in northern France. Its drainage basin is in the Paris Basin (a geological relative lowland) covering most of northern France. It rises at Source-Seine, northwest of Dijon in northeastern France in the Langres plat ...
Velodrome, which ended in a 0–3 loss. In 1896, Fraysse captained the Club Français team to victory in the 1896 USFSA Football Championship, doing so without losing a single match. In July 1896, Fraysse refereed a match between the second teams of Club Français and CP Asnières. In December 1896, Fraysse captained the first exclusively French selection against the English Ramblers, a motley selection of Englishmen on tour, and he then did it again on 26 December 1897, in which was the very first football match in the history of the
Parc des Princes The Parc des Princes (, ) is an all-seater stadium, all-seater football stadium in Paris, France. It is located in the south-west of the French capital, inside the 16th arrondissement of Paris, 16th arrondissement, near the Stade Jean-Bouin (P ...
in front of 500 spectators, leading Club Français to a 1–3 loss to the English Ramblers. During the match, he became a little dizzy after falling against a post, and missed several chances, and after the match, it was said that he had imagined having played a championship match and was therefore sad. On 25 April 1897, he started in the final of the inaugural
Coupe Manier The Coupe Manier was a Association football, football competition in France that ran from 1897 until 1911. Only clubs that fielded no more than three foreigners were allowed to participate in the competition, which at the time was mainly British p ...
against the newly crowded champions of France Standard AC, converting a
penalty Penalty, The Penalty, Penalization, Penalisation, Penalize or Penalise may refer to: Sports * Foul (sports) ** Penalty (golf) ** Penalty (gridiron football) ** Penalty (ice hockey) ** Penalty (rugby) ** Penalty (rugby union) ** Penalty kick (assoc ...
in the first-half, netting a late equaliser to make it 3–3, and then completing his
hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three Wick ...
with a long shot in
extra-time Overtime (OT) or extra time (ET) is an additional period of play to bring a game to a decision and avoid declaring the match a tie or draw where the scores are the same. In some sports, this extra period is played only if the game is required t ...
to seal a 4–3 victory to his side.


National dominance

On 28 March 1898, Fraysse started in the final of the 1898
Coupe Manier The Coupe Manier was a Association football, football competition in France that ran from 1897 until 1911. Only clubs that fielded no more than three foreigners were allowed to participate in the competition, which at the time was mainly British p ...
at the
Vélodrome de Vincennes The Vélodrome de Vincennes (officially Vélodrome Jacques Anquetil - La Cipale) is a cycling stadium in the Bois de Vincennes, Paris, France. Initially built as a velodrome in 1894, it became the main stadium for the 1900 Summer Olympics; Even ...
, helping his side to a 10–0 win over Paris Star. In the following week, on 3 April, he started in the final of the 1898 USFSA Football Championship against Standard AC at
Courbevoie Courbevoie () is a Communes of France, commune located in the Hauts-de-Seine department of the Île-de-France region of France. It is a suburb of Paris, from the Kilometre zero, center of Paris. The centre of Courbevoie is situated from the ci ...
, which ended in a 2–3 loss. In the following year, on 16 April 1899, he started in the play-off match against Standard AC to decide the 1898–99 USFSA Paris championship, assisting two goals to help his side to a 3–2 win. This victory qualified the club to the 1899 USFSA national championship, in which Club Français withdrew from the final before facing
Le Havre AC Le Havre Athletic Club () is a French professional association football club based in Le Havre, Normandy. The football club was founded in 1894 as a section of the sports club of the same name, founded in 1884. Le Havre plays in Ligue 1, the ...
.


Later career

In 1899, the 29-year-old Fraysse moved to
Racing Club de France Racing Club de France, also known as RCF, is a French multi-sport club that was founded on 20 April 1882 under the name Racing Club. Racing Club changed its name to Racing Club de France (RCF) on 21 November 1885. The club is located at the Bois ...
, where he retired in 1901, aged 31. In the following year, Fraysse co-financed the purchase of a 30-hectare plot of land in Vésinet, to install fields and changing rooms for the Club Français, of which he was still president. According to his former teammate Ernest Weber, one of the first CF members who later became a renowned journalist for ''L'Auto'' (the forerunner of ''
L'Équipe ''L'Équipe'' (, French for "the team") is a French nationwide daily newspaper devoted to sport, owned by Éditions Philippe Amaury. The paper is noted for coverage of association football, rugby, motorsport, and cycling. Its predecessor, '' ...
''), Fraysse was "loud-mouthed, abrupt, violent", but also an exciting leader of men and a great team captain. On 1 April 1907, several former players from the 1890s, who had been retired for years, came together to play a friendly match for the so-called ''Vieilles Gloires'' ("Old Glories"), including the 36-year-old Fraysse, who thus reunited with his fellow CF founders Bernat and Weber, even writing a letter for the latter "overwhelming him with reproaches". A few days later, Weber wrote an article about their reunion, referring to him as "Eugène Cresson", and stating that "he wanted to talk about the Club Français and its founders, and was surprised by my lack of memory", and then added that the first players of CF "produced a beautiful series of efforts and showed a magnificent disinterested ardor, who ensured the success of association football from its beginnings in France".


International career

The French champions in 1899 and 1900, Havre AC, were not willing to participate in the 1900 Olympic Games, so the USFSA asked for the runners-up Club Français to participate, possibly to also attract more spectators and keep down expenses, and the three guest players were Fraysse of Racing Club de France, who also played a leading role within the USFSA as the head of its Association Commission, and his Racing teammates Peltier and René Ressejac-Duparc. At the time, the figure of the
coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of Athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Coac ...
as we know it today did not yet exist, so it was the duty of the captain, Fraysse, to dictate the tactics to be followed and making up the line-ups, and he chose to align, not a heterogeneous selection as in 1896 against the English Ramblers, but a reinforced club, to ensure the cohesion of the team. Furthermore, Fraysse was responsible, along with Léopold Alibert and Neville Tunmer, for training the French team, in which he also played; a sort of
player-coach A player–coach (also playing coach, captain–coach, or player–manager) is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. Player–coaches may be head coaches or assistant coaches, and they may make chang ...
. Fraysse was listed as a forward for the
USFSA U.S. Figure Skating is the national Sports governing body, governing body for the sport of figure skating in the United States. It is recognized as such by the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC) under the Amateur Sports Act of 1 ...
team at the 1900 Olympic Games. Fraysse captained the French team in its opening match against Upton Park on 20 September, which ended in a humiliating 0–4 loss, thus becoming the first captain of a French national team. The French team came second and Fraysse was thus awarded with a silver medal.


Later life

Fraysse distanced himself from football in 1903, and he later got involved in
tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...
and even
Basque pelota Basque pelota (Basque: '' pilota'', Spanish: '' pelota vasca'', French: '' pelote basque'') is the name for a variety of court sports played with a ball using one's hand, a racket, a wooden bat or a basket, against a wall (''frontis or fronto ...
. He became the owner of the tennis courts of ''rue Delaizementin'' at the
16th arrondissement of Paris The 16th arrondissement of Paris (; ) is the westernmost of the 20 arrondissements of Paris, the capital city of France. Located on the city's Right Bank, it is adjacent to the 17th and 8th arrondissements to the northeast, as well as to the ...
, and in August 1903, he allowed those courts to be used for the tennis championship of the Club Français. It was also in the 16th, ''rue Borghese'', that Fraysse opened a Fronton de pelota basque in 1903.


Writing career

Fraysse wrote in collaboration with the Englishman Alfred Tunmer (former player of the Standard AC) and his brother Neville, the first French work devoted to association football, called ''Football Association'', which was published in 1897 by
Armand Colin Armand Colin is a French publishing house founded in 1870 by Auguste Armand Colin. It specializes in publishing works concerning human sciences, economics and education. Among its best-known publications are the "U" collection begun in 1968, and ...
(followed by several re-editions until 1913). Fraysse and Neville, who had coached the French team at the 1900 Olympics, described the football team as a military squadron under the orders of its officer, stating that "the many qualities that a player must possess to properly fulfill the functions of captain are the same required of a general; his team is a small army that he must know how to command, instruct and lead, and the team must have unlimited confidence in him".


Death and legacy

Fraysse died in the 16th arrondissement of Paris on 1 May 1950, just three days short of his 80th birthday. On 12 November 2020, Pierre Cazal published his book called ''Sélectionneurs des Bleus: De Fraysse à Deschamps'' (The managers of the Bleus: From Fraysse to Deschamps), which relates the chronology of the several managers of the French team.


Honours


Club

;Club Français * USFSA Paris Championship: **Champions (1): 1898–99 *
USFSA Football Championship U.S. Figure Skating is the national Sports governing body, governing body for the sport of figure skating in the United States. It is recognized as such by the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC) under the Amateur Sports Act of 1 ...
: **Champions (1):
1896 Events January * January 2 – The Jameson Raid comes to an end as Jameson surrenders to the Boers. * January 4 – Utah is admitted as the 45th U.S. state. * January 5 – An Austrian newspaper reports Wilhelm Röntgen's dis ...
**Runner-up (2):
1898 Events January * January 1 – New York City annexes land from surrounding counties, creating the City of Greater New York as the world's second largest. The city is geographically divided into five boroughs: Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queen ...
and
1899 Events January * January 1 ** Spanish rule formally ends in Cuba with the cession of Spanish sovereignty to the U.S., concluding 400 years of the Spanish Empire in the Americas.''The American Monthly Review of Reviews'' (February 1899), p ...
*
Coupe Manier The Coupe Manier was a Association football, football competition in France that ran from 1897 until 1911. Only clubs that fielded no more than three foreigners were allowed to participate in the competition, which at the time was mainly British p ...
: **Champions (2): 1897 and 1898


International

; France MNT *
Summer Olympics The Summer Olympic Games, also known as the Summer Olympics or the Games of the Olympiad, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The inaugural Games took place in 1896 in Athens, then part of the King ...
: **Silver medal (1):
1900 As of March 1 ( O.S. February 17), when the Julian calendar acknowledged a leap day and the Gregorian calendar did not, the Julian calendar fell one day further behind, bringing the difference to 13 days until February 28 ( O.S. February 15 ...


Notes


Bibliography

* *


References


External links

*
Eugène Fraysse's profile at Sports Reference.comEugène Fraysse at the Olympics - Results
1870 births 1950 deaths French men's footballers Footballers from Paris Olympic silver medalists for France Olympic footballers for France Footballers at the 1900 Summer Olympics Olympic medalists in football Medalists at the 1900 Summer Olympics Men's association football forwards Club Français players {{Authority control